I don't think I actually posted this yet, if I did, I apologize!  

Long story short, when we moved out of North Carolina, we loaded up most of our household goods into an ABF trailer, and then the wife, kids and dogs loaded up in the jeep, and I hooked up the truck to the camper.  I had the stakebeds on, with ALL of my tools and a bunch of other items strapped down on the flatbed, and the camper was probably close to about 8k with everything we had packed in it.  
Got on the road, and headed out.  We've made the drive to Indy a few times, but still use the gps.  I decided not to use my phone gps, to keep the phone free to talk to the wife if I needed to, and used the Tom Tom...which is now in the trash.  

The Tom Tom ran us through West Virginia, but instead of running us into Ohio, which is how we've gone every other time, it took us into Kentucky.  We pulled over for a few hours, and slept, then got on the road again about 530 in the morning.  Because it was taking us a different route, we tried to get back to ohio, and took a shortcut...I don't remember the road name.  As I was driving down the road, it was a slight hill, with mountainside on both sides, and then further down the road I could see a set of guardrails.  

The wife told me that there was a driver so close to me I couldn't see him in my mirrors.  I didn't even know there was anyone behind me.  As I was driving, the trailer hit a patch of black ice.  I felt it kick out to the left, and back to the right, hard-hard enough I saw the entire side of the trailer in my sideview mirrors.  As I was fumbling around in the dark, trying to find the trailer brake panic button, I realized I was getting far closer to the guardrail, and I had no idea what was outside the guardrails, as it was still pitch black.  I figured I had no choice but to try and stop, one way or another, before I hit the guardrail section.  Locked up the brakes, and the trailer whipped around and snatched the truck with it, ended up doing a 180 in the road.  Slid off the road, and ended up on the shoulder facing traffic.  The ONLY damage was the front passenger side of the camper was a little crunched in, where it hit the corner of the flatbed.  My wife pulled over.  The guy behind me, somehow never hit me, drove past, and at least another 6 cars kept going.  My top speed when I hit the ice?  35-40, in a 60 mph zone.  It pisses me off that people will see that and drive by.  Thankfully, I was fine, and the wife and kids were fine too, but if it had been her, behind me, and I didn't see it, no one would have stopped for her either, and I wouldn't have known until I realized I couldn't see her headlights behind me on a corner...

That had the makings of a disaster. Glad everything came out alright and all are ok. That black ice is something. You never know it there until you're on it.

 When my wife and I traveled together she always tailgated so close I could never see her. I dont know how or why anyone wants to tailgate any trailer and look at it that close for hours. We were traveling once and a dump truck passed me going 80+, next thing I knew my wife was getting pulled over. I pulled over up ahead of them. The cop was going to give her a ticket for following to close until he saw we were together. He passed up the dump truck for her since she was so close. I still cant believe he did NOT write her a ticket.

The great news was that even with everything on the flatbed, and the trailer hitch part of the flatbed, my welds and mounts held up...not even a crack that I've been able to see...I was paranoid about that up till the camper yanked me around. And the fact that my wife was laughing at me as I was strapping stuff down on the flatbed - I lost count of hoe many straps I used, but nothing shifted so much as an inch...can't say the same for inside the camper - poor cat. He was NOT happy with me when I finally got to him after we got here!

The great news was that even with everything on the flatbed, and the trailer hitch part of the flatbed, my welds and mounts held up...not even a crack that I've been able to see...I was paranoid about that up till the camper yanked me around. And the fact that my wife was laughing at me as I was strapping stuff down on the flatbed - I lost count of hoe many straps I used, but nothing shifted so much as an inch...can't say the same for inside the camper - poor cat. He was NOT happy with me when I finally got to him after we got here!

 

A man can never have too many straps!  We moved from Atlanta GA to Hickory NC many years back in a big U-haul. I got elected to take the cat. 10 miles into the trip he is laying on his back on the seat with his mouth open and his tongue hanging out. I thought he was dead. Stayed that way for 6 hours until I pulled up to the new house. I opened the truck door and he jumped up and out of the truck. Never did figure that out. 

Glad everything turned out OK for you Dennhop, sounds like a scary few moments.

Although it likely wasn't your Tom Tom throwing you off course so much as the terrain down there, at least in my experiences. We were in the southern part of W Virginia on A wheeling trip a few years back when my Tom Tom decided to veer us off the main road and up a switch back one lane road. We realized we were headed in the wrong direction a mile into it but with a 24 foot trailer in tow all we could do was press on. We finallymade it to the top of the mountain where the road dead ended into someone's driveway. There was a slew of old abandoned cars and one or two that actually look like they ran. About Then 4 good ol boys caAME pouring out of the little shack and all the sudden we felt like we were in that movie wrong turn. One of the guys came up to the truck and said "I bet Tom Tom brought ya up here didn't he" We all looked at each other and busted up laughing. They told us GPS brought people up there all the time, helped us get turned around and we were on our way. We now use GPS to get us into W Virginia then we use a map to get us the rest of the way.

Edited February 14, 201411 yr by diesel4life

Did you have to change your underpants after this??!!

Your adventure reminded me of the day that we were moving into Idaho.  We came out of Cali., and had entered Nevada.  Dad and I were in the Dodge Mag...Michael was in the Charger.  Dad was speeding right along and Michael was following  Along came the Nevada Highway Patrol and pulled Michael over for speeding, and of course Dad had gotten out to find out the problem.  The officer then became aware that we were a family traveling together.  He asked for driver licenses from both of them and verifying address said, "Yes, your son was speeding, but since you were setting a bad example as a parent, I'm giving the ticket to you."  And he handed it to Dad.  Told us to have a nice day....Michael smiled...I screamed...and we drove on to Idaho.  Love Moparmom.

Chalk up one for the younger generation. followed my dad on vacation thru the mountains when I was 16. Needless to sya he was better at it than me. He left me behind more than once. I do believe he enjoyed that.

Surprisingly dorkweed, no! I think it's because of the pucker factor...I'm still missing part of my seat cushion!

I love my wife to death, but in the mountains in west virginia, I ended up pulling away from her more than once, partly because the truck has a nasty shudder between 55-65, so the only two options were to slowdown to 45, or speed up to 70...I'm comfortable pulling 70 on the gills, she wasnt, so I would speed up hill, then slow way down and wait till she caught back up.

Glad everything turned out OK for you Dennhop, sounds like a scary few moments.

Although it likely wasn't your Tom Tom throwing you off course so much as the terrain down there, at least in my experiences. We were in the southern part of W Virginia on A wheeling trip a few years back when my Tom Tom decided to veer us off the main road ....... "I bet Tom Tom brought ya up here didn't he" We all looked at each other and busted up laughing. They told us GPS brought people up there all the time, helped us get turned around and we were on our way. We now use GPS to get us into W Virginia then we use a map to get us the rest of the way.

My TomTom... Bad TomTom :banghead:  :banghead:   http://youtu.be/_jLN5EWXIy4   and  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdRinffAZuU&feature=share&list=UUZomNBYw1lYzL-zu0N79v2g&index=1 Needless to say but, I don't very much like TomTom :banghead:

Who needs a a darn GPS to get you lost. I've got MoparMom shes been reading road maps since she was a little kid. Never been lost yet. As for winter driving conditions I'm typically a slow going person myself. But with a trailer in the mix and sudden changes in forces like you did with trailer brake can make all kinds of things happen. Out here its a rule of thumb to never drive at night in the winter time because of road conditions changing so quickly from one mile to another. I've had nights where it was required to drive 30-35 in a 65 MPH between deer and elk and the black ice....

Hey Yabba Doo, tell me about the witches brew! Interested!

Actually the newer gps systems are pretty good, as long as you keep them updated. The exception of course is in the mountains they always seem to get scrambled. Strange because the gps on my fourwheeler will pick me up no matter where we are and we go pretty deep in the mountains when we go to West Virginia every year. Our cell phones rarely even work where we go.

I keep an Atlas in my truck on road trips, but unless you keep buying new ones they become outdated and unreliable too. They are good for back road and country highways that don't change often but if I have to go into a city I prefer a gps. Especially if I'm driving alone.

I usually just Google the trip and then get out a road map and double check them. They will send on a round about trip some times too. Cant beat a good road map. I have to admit a GPS is good to have when buried up in big city.

I think when we turned around on the road back to the interstate, I don't remember coming out of 3rd gear....pretty sure I didn't break 20 mph the whole way back to the interstate.

I can't seem to catch a break coming north

..The last time I was towing from NC to IN, I had my buddies 40 ft tandem dual gooseneck I'd borrowed on the back. Got through WV fine, then hit a whiteout condition where I couldn't see past the hood of my truck. It was either stop where I was, with cars passing me like I was standing still, or slow down to about 5 mph and creep forward, hoping I could stay on the road. Luckily, a semi was doing the same thing, and came up to my left and talked me in to the nearest truck stop. I always make sure the cb in the truck is running on long trips.

Stay way from Idaho right now its pouring snow right now heading into our second inch since morning.

Luckily, a semi was doing the same thing, and came up to my left and talked me in to the nearest truck stop. I always make sure the cb in the truck is running on long trips.

I cant tell ya how many times my CB has come in handy too. Be it in the hills or on a long road trip, you can bet Ill use it at some point. I always keep a good road map in the truck but about 95% of the time I just use the Google Map app on my smart phone. Its actually pretty accurate. Google updates the map app daily for road construction/Traffic and stuff.

I love driving in the snow...just not with a trailer. I'll drive around all day in snow with the truck as long as I don't have to pull anything.

I cant tell ya how many times my CB has come in handy too. Be it in the hills or on a long road trip, you can bet Ill use it at some point. I always keep a good road map in the truck but about 95% of the time I just use the Google Map app on my smart phone. Its actually pretty accurate. Google updates the map app daily for road construction/Traffic and stuff.

My friends always tease me that I have a CB in my vehicle... It will certainly work better than a cell phone if you are in a dead zone... I like mine on for long road trips as well so you can hear about any "bear" or accidents in the area